Filmmaker wants to honor skipper of ill-fated Alaska Ranger

Ed Baker

Thursday

Jul 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2008 at 5:49 AM

Karen Jacobsen went for years without seeing her father Capt. Eric “Pete,” Jacobsen following a lapse in their relationship. She eventually reestablished contact with “Capt Pete,” a former Weymouth resident, and corresponded with him regularly until he perished while in command of the Alaska Ranger.

Karen Jacobsen went for years without seeing her father Capt. Eric “Pete,” Jacobsen following a lapse in their relationship. She eventually reestablished contact with “Capt Pete,” a former Weymouth resident, and corresponded with him regularly until he perished while in command of the Alaska Ranger.

The 200-foot fishing trawler sank during a fierce storm while sailing on the Bering Sea approximately 120 miles south of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Easter Sunday.

“I was in the prime of just getting to know my father when I got a phone call on Easter Sunday morning and was told that the ship my father captained sank that very morning,” Karen said.

The Coast Guard saved 42 crewmates but they were unable to rescue Jacobsen, 65, and his four officers.

Karen additionally learned that her father made sure his crew got off the vessel before he and the officers abandoned the ship.

The Coast Guard recovered Jacobsen’s body and the remains of his officers hours after the crew was rescued.

Karen wants to preserve Capt. Pete’s legacy in a film documentary that her friend Lisa P. Hagerty is attempting to produce.

“I was told that it would make an amazing book and film and that his story needs to be told,” Karen said.

Hagerty said the film is about a man who follows in his father’s footsteps to work as a fisherman and eventually becomes a captain.

“I did not know him as a captain,” Karen said. “I knew him as my father.”

The documentary will focus on Jacobsen’s heroism that resulted in his crew being rescued from the icy waters during a fierce winter storm and how Karen was getting reacquainted with her father following years of no communication.

Jacobsen grew up in Weymouth and lived there until he married a Quincy woman during the early 1960’s.

The couple eventually settled in Hingham to raise a family. Jacobsen and his wife divorced in the mid 1970’s and he relocated to Washington state a few years later.

Jacobsen’s lifelong appreciation for the sea led him to seek employment as a fisherman and he eventually became a captain.

Karen’s contact with her father ceased for nearly 20 years after he moved to Washington because of personal reasons, but she renewed ties with Jacobsen eight years ago.

“We kept in touch,” Karen said. “But he was out to sea between eight and ten months each year. One reason why I want to tell this story is to continue to get to know the man I call Dad. It’s really a story of forgiveness, love, redemption, and healing for me.”

Hagerty and Karen plan to visit Seattle and Alaska to interview Jacobsen’s former crewmates and acquaintances for the documentary.

“We want to see the place where Karen’s dad frequented,” Hagerty said. “The Coast Guard said we could use any and all pictures that they have of the rescue. We will also be showing Karen’s journey through all this.”

Karen hopes to visit Dutch Harbor, a small city in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands where the Alaska Ranger departed from on its last voyage.

“I hope to get out to Dutch Harbor where my dad spent most of the time,” she said. “It is where his feet last touched the earth and I plan to pay my last respects there.”

Karen said Jacobsen became a committed Christian shortly after she reconciled with him and that his beliefs guided him as a captain.

“When I was in Seattle, we met and went to church together and he accepted Jesus into his heart during a church service,” she said. “He said he prayed for us everyday and he kept a Bible in his room while aboard the boat.”

Hagerty and Karen are trying to raise funds to finance the documentary about Jacobsen.

“We are seeking corporate sponsors and any other interested parties that would graciously offer any support, financial or otherwise, to help us tell our story,” Hagerty said.

The documentary will showcase where Jacobsen lived in Washington in addition to interviews with his former crew and acquaintances.

“A crew member I talked with said my father was like a mentor to the crew,” Karen said. “He said my father would take each crew member under his wing.”

She said individuals and corporations who want to help finance the film should contact her or Hagerty at 781-789-7810 or by e-mail; alaskarangerfilmproject @gmail.com.

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